The invention pertains to a folding guide for use with cutting and sewing machines and more particularly, a guide for effecting folds in workpieces formed from knit fabric prior to their being subjected to the cutting and sewing operations.
In the knitted garment industry, it is common practice to cut knit fabric into flat straight pieces and then shape them into workpieces which will subsequently form a finished article such as sleeves having a forward portion and a rearward portion. The edges of such workpieces are subject to fraying as a result of cutting and it is necessary that such edges be folded onto themselves and then sewn so as to form an acceptable edge on the finished article of clothing. These acceptable edges are formed by sewing and cutting machines in which the folded edge is sewn and thence severed from that portion not required by the finished article.
To avoid manual folding of such edges, apparatuses are known which utilize a conveyor for supporting the articles to be folded which presents the articles to a folding guide that automatically and effectively folds the edges and then advances the latter to the sewing and cutting machine. These known apparatuses have a very definite disadvantage in that they are not capable of effecting a fold of a width greater than 2-2.5 cm. The reason for this disadvantage is that any attempt to increase the width of a fold, the known guides are not capable of maintaining parallelism between the edges itself thus causing an unacceptable sewing and cutting operation to be performed. Additionally, attempts at very wide folds induces bagging of the fabric which obviously would be responsible for defects in the finished article.
An object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages described above, by providing a folding guide that is capable of effectively and satisfactorily forming folded edges of substantially greater width than has been heretofore possible with the known forms of folding guides. A further object is to provide a folding guide of simplified construction, economical to manufacture, with long life expectancy and which can be readily adapted for use with existing sewing and cutting machines.
The folding guide according to the invention includes first and second plate elements extending in parallel relationship and vertically spaced one from the other. A third plate element also extends in parallel relation to the first and second plate elements and includes an edge disposed between and at an angle oblique to the latter. The folding guide is disposed upstream of a sewing and cutting machine and slightly above a conveyor so that as the edges of the fabric to be folded are advanced by the conveyor, they are caused to pass below the first plate element and above the third plate element that is provided with a pressing device operatively associated with its upper surface to effect an increase in the frictional force with which the fabric engages this upper surface and in combination with the angularly disposed edge of the third plate element is effective in forming the desired fold in the workpiece.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent by reference to the appended claims and as the following detailed description proceeds in reference to the figures of drawing wherein: